Sunday, February 8, 2026
Read the Digital Magazines Subscribe to the Magazines
Subscribe

Market Reports

IowaMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsMultifamily

Population Growth Sparks Apartment Development Wave in Des Moines

by Kristin Harlow

While recently visiting a local Starbucks, I noticed an employee behind the counter with a tattoo in the shape of California. I decided to ask the barista if she was from the Golden State, and indeed she was. I asked what brought her to Des Moines, thinking she would say family or a love interest, but I was wrong. She had read and heard so much positive press about the Des Moines area that she decided to give it a shot. She started applying for jobs online and landed one with Wells Fargo, the largest employer in Des Moines. Working at Starbucks was her second gig. I asked if she lived in the suburbs. She replied, “Nope, I live downtown and work in the suburbs.” Population surge This anecdotal story is pretty common these days. Young people are flocking to Des Moines like never before. I have lived in Des Moines nearly 40 years, and never have I seen the growth we are currently experiencing. Much of it has to do with the quality of life. We don’t yet have a rush hour — we call it rush minutes. The cost of living is reasonable, and young people stand a …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
ColoradoIndustrialMarket ReportsWesternWestern Market Reports

Denver Industrial Market is Still Climbing

by Camren Skelton

Denver’s industrial market has had an impressive run so far this economic cycle – so much so that the top-of-mind-question is, “Where do we go from here?” Last year was a prolific year, attracting new investors, delivering 4.5 million square feet of Class A space and posting the fifth straight year of sub-5 percent vacancy. But the outlook for 2017 is brighter given Denver’s strong economic foundation, the arrival of e-commerce users and delivery of much-needed warehouse inventory. E-commerce Arrives in a Big Way E-commerce arrived in Denver in 2016 but is only just rolling out. Construction began earlier this year on a 1.1-million-square-foot fulfillment center, which will be the market’s largest industrial building upon completion. Several other last-mile e-commerce facilities are opening in the region that are intended to provide same-day or fresh food delivery. The local e-commerce footprint is approaching 3 million square feet in total. E-commerce companies are actively securing sites in Denver largely in response to the region’s explosive population growth. Colorado was the second-fastest-growing state in 2015, and Colorado’s Front Range communities are home to more than 5 million people. Between 2010 and 2016, Denver added nearly 1,000 new residents a week and ranked 12th …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
AlabamaMarket ReportsMultifamilySoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Job Growth, Limited Deliveries Elevate Birmingham Apartment Market’s Outlook

by John Nelson

Urban submarkets have largely carried the Birmingham multifamily market’s recovery. However, going forward investors will look to capitalize on greater yields in suburban submarkets. Despite rising rents, absorption continues to climb and concessions are falling off. Greater absorption metrics will be a recurring theme this year as rising construction costs and tightening access to capital constrain new development. Supportive Economy Birmingham’s economy added 8,000 net jobs year-over-year as of December 2016, growing at an accelerated rate of 1.6 percent. Further, unemployment remains low at 5.4 percent. Industries such as transportation, education, healthcare, government, and finance are at the forefront of job growth in the market, accounting for 75 percent of the net jobs added. Moody’s projects that the metro will add more than 24,000 net jobs through 2020, expanding by approximately 4.7 percent. Recent expansion announcements in the market reaffirm this trend, including the Project Sunrise deal that will create 746 manufacturing jobs via a $120 million investment in the former Meadowcraft facility. Another needle-moving deal is Mercedes-Benz U.S. International’s $1.3 billion plant expansion in Vance, which has resulted in automotive suppliers growing their footprint in the market. For instance, Eissmann Group Automotive recently added 200 jobs in nearby Pell …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Market ReportsRetailTexasTexas Market Reports

New Retail Concepts Abound in Expanding Dallas-Fort Worth Market

by Taylor Williams

It’s no secret retail vacancies in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area are at all-time lows. Vacancy rates at the end of first quarter 2017 were 4.6 percent, down from 5.5 percent a year ago, according to CoStar. More tenants are actively looking for the right spaces for their businesses so the retail sector is not overbuilt. Junior anchor tenants have “right-sized” requirements, thus decreasing their space needs. For example, Office Depot is downsizing its typical footprint from 24,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet. Grocery stores that have gone dark have been backfilled with fitness gyms, other grocers or entertainment-type tenants. In addition, market rents jumped markedly from $30 per square foot plus NNNs to $35 to $40 per square foot plus NNNs in the high demand spaces. In Class A retail environments such as the Frisco Mile, rates are $50 to $65 per square foot plus NNNs. Even in the new 99 Ranch Market space in Frisco, rents are $50 per square foot plus NNNs and the tenants are not blinking. Requests for higher finish-outs are continuing, but tenants are willing to pay these higher rents in order to use the landlords’ money for their improvements. Job and Housing …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
IllinoisIndustrialMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market Reports

Priming Chicago’s Industrial Corridors For 21st Century Development

by Kristin Harlow

As Chicago has emerged as one of the country’s top tech capitals, large parcels of land across the city -— many set aside for manufacturers that no longer do business there — have remained stuck in the past, serving as roadblocks to billions of dollars in new real estate development. That’s about to change thanks to a yearlong effort spearheaded by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city’s Department of Planning and Development, which recently approved recommendations for modernizing the first of 26 industrial corridors across the city. The recommendations are the result of a community engagement process that solicited feedback from various stakeholders, including our firm and other real estate developers. The plan will pave the way for new residential and commercial projects throughout the North Branch Industrial Corridor, which stretches from Kinzie Street to just north of Fullerton Avenue along the Chicago River. These investments, which include much-needed infrastructure and open space initiatives, will engage the adjacent riverfront and create mixed-use environments. The early years In the 1980s, the city of Chicago designated a series of industrial corridors and Planned Manufacturing Districts (PMDs) — many along waterways and railways — to protect the city’s industrial base from encroachment by …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
IndustrialMarket ReportsNortheastNortheast Market ReportsRhode Island

The Changing Face of the Providence, Rhode Island Industrial Market

by Camren Skelton

The latest CoStar Industrial Report for Providence reports that 2016 ended on a positive note on many fronts for the industrial real estate sector. The Providence industrial vacancy rate overall was down to 4.6 percent, a steady drop from 4.8 percent at the end of third quarter 2016, 5.3 percent at the end of second quarter 2016 and 6.4 percent at end of first quarter 2016. Flex projects showed a vacancy rate of 7.1 percent at end of fourth quarter 2016, a sharp drop from a rate that held largely steady for most of 2016 (11.4 percent for end of third quarter 2016, 11 percent at end of second and 11.5 percent at end of first quarter). For warehouse projects, the vacancy rate at the end of fourth quarter was just 4.4 percent, no change from end of third quarter, but down from 5 percent at end of second quarter and 6 percent at end of first quarter. It’s more good news for the state’s industrial outlook that the current administration has prioritized bringing businesses and jobs here. There’s evidence in the CoStar report to support that claim. Look at the third-largest lease signing of 2016. It was enacted by …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
ColoradoMarket ReportsOfficeWesternWestern Market Reports

Five Transformative Years Elevate Denver’s Office Market

by Camren Skelton

The region is creating transformative projects that are substantially elevating the desirability of its office market five years into Denver’s strong development cycle. This trend — strongest in Denver’s Central Business District (CBD) and Southeast Suburban (SES) submarkets — is attracting a new breed of tenants to the Denver landscape. About 1.4 million square feet of Class A office space has been delivered in Denver’s CBD since 2012, with an equal amount under construction. Deliveries in the previous development cycles (1999 to2003 and 2007 to 2010) were on a smaller scale, delivering about 800,000 square feet and more than 1.5 million square feet, respectively. During the 2007 to 2010 development cycle, which had the unfortunate timing of commencing right before the financial crisis, new product struggled with pre-leasing. It took an average of 10 quarters to lease up to stabilized occupancy at 85 percent. Only one project, 1800 Larimer Street, was more than 85 percent leased in the first year. In contrast, the current cycle is much different and much stronger. The amount of square footage being added to the CBD outweighs the previous other two cycles. Leasing activity is white hot as well, with new product averaging 60 percent …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
AlabamaIndustrialMarket ReportsSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Automotive Users Put Birmingham’s Industrial Market in the Fast Lane

by John Nelson

When comparing Birmingham’s industrial market to other major cities in the Southeast, “The Tortoise and the Hare” comes to mind. Birmingham has had slow and steady progress — not to say that our sister cities have periods of laziness and napping. Birmingham’s current pace of activity is more the norm and thankfully the trends remain positive with 2016’s transaction numbers actually tilting in the direction of a “hare-like” pace. Occupancy rates for the 15 million-square-foot, multi-tenant industrial market eclipsed 90 percent for the first time since 2005. We had positive absorption of over 400,000 square feet with just under 1.5 million square feet of inventory remaining. During 2016, 12 new lease transactions of 50,000 square feet and larger were completed, eight of which were automotive related. These 12 transactions compare to seven and eight in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which is a strong increase. Leases of note include 270,600 square feet to a third-party logistics provider for Mercedes-Benz; 240,240 square feet to Grupo Antolin, a Spanish-based supplier of interior parts for Mercedes-Benz; and a 225,496-square-foot lease directly with Mercedes-Benz. Much of the remaining 1.5 million square feet of inventory is Class B or lower quality, so finding suitable space has …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Market ReportsOfficeTexasTexas Market Reports

Dallas Office Market Opens 2017 With Accelerated Leasing, Absorption

by Taylor Williams

Much like the overall U.S. economy, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) office market is statistically trending upward and will experience continued growth in 2017 as indicated by first quarter numbers. Overall, the marketplace is experiencing sustained growth thanks to small- to medium-sized businesses expanding at a rapid rate, investors selectively chasing higher yields and market cores shifting to suburban areas. According to Stream’s first quarter 2017 data, the market experienced cautious growth in the latter half of 2016, with stagnations that are common during election years. Yet the report indicates 2017’s outlook is very promising. With 75 percent of the metro’s office markets posting a decrease in vacancy, we have much to look forward to over the remainder of the year. Only submarkets with heavy volumes of speculative office construction have not seen as much in the way of decreasing vacancies. Kicking off with a bang, the Dallas office market saw leasing activity ramp up dramatically to begin 2017. With quarter one in the books, we can project continued job growth, a robust local economy and heavy deal activity. Noteworthy Dallas Developments Similar to 2016, buildings that primarily focus on improving parking availability and walkable retail options will have the best …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
IllinoisMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsOffice

Strong Tenant Demand Continues to Propel Chicago’s Office Market

by Kristin Harlow

In spite of the ongoing fiscal woes of the State of Illinois and City of Chicago, the downtown office market in the Windy City continues to experience solid growth in demand for quality office space. The first quarter of 2017 saw net absorption of 374,000 square feet, a 54 percent increase from the 243,000 square feet of net absorption recorded during the first quarter of 2016. This comes on the heels of a spike in supply in the central business district (CBD) of Chicago, with the opening of two new Class A office towers during the past two quarters: 150 North Riverside Plaza and 444 West Lake Street, developed by Riverside Investment & Development Co. and Hines Interests, respectively. These trophy assets added 2.4 million square feet of office space to the CBD. With these additions, Chicago’s office inventory in the CBD expanded from 132.6 million square feet in the first quarter of 2016 to 135 million square feet in the first quarter of 2017. Two additional towers under construction now at 151 N. Franklin Street and 625 W. Adams Street will open in the next 12 months, adding an additional 1.3 million square feet to the supply and bringing …

Continue Reading
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts